Okay, this may be a weird question, but do you/can you wash wooden dowels before you use them? I"m thinking about hygiene here. I bought some that were loose and then I transported them, cut them etc. They weren't in a package and I don't know what they were germs they exposed to. Then I'm just shoving them in a cake that people will eat?

Am I being paranoid? Should I not be using this type of dowel? I can see that plastic would be washed and there wouldn't be an issue, but what about wooden?

Thanks!

yes you can wash them, just let them dry before using them. I always wrap mine in press n seal.

You can always boil them for ten minutes and then they are sterile......I would NEVER wrap them in plastic....what if a piece comes off and a kid gets it caught in their throat...........no no no please don't do that

I would rather be safe than sorry...........weird things happen every day......I don't like to go looking for it if ya know what I mean..........you have to be so careful.....

I use the hollow plastic dowels...easier to cut and they seem so much cleaner.

wow agentdorkfish..............excellent info to share.....your so right.....even older kids....I remember a kid 18 was sitting in his car opening a pack of floor mats for his car, he was at a driveinn hamburger joint, and no one was around...he bit into the plastic to open it and the plastic was sucked back across his wind pipe and he died right there..............freak things happen, thats just my point...be paranoid

I cover them in thin aluminum foil, easy.... really...

Jen

Did you buy them from a cake supply store? The wooden ones I buy are loose as well, but my supplier told me they are a special type of timber that is not porous and that's why we use them for cake. I just wipe mine down with a clean towel before I use them. There has been a few threads about this before. Here is one

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=644833&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

Wrapping in foil is going to be much more likely to leave pieces behind than wrapping plastic...

I always slip the wooden dowel inside a drinking straw (thank you McDonalds) & then cut & then insert into the cake.This way the straw,not the wood is touching the cake,but you still have the support of the wooden dowel.

I use the wooden dowels as well. Where can I find the thick straws I have seen mentioned here? And also, does anyone use regular straws, like from McDonalds? Don't they bend? Also people keep mentioning the ? SPS system. I could not find it in the How To section as someone mentioned. What is this?

There is no way of leaving any foil pcs behind using foil. I tuck the ends in/under as I roll on the rectangle pc. of foil. My thoughts on this are, plastic SLIDES.... with grease. I have been using the foil method literally for years with no problems at all.

Just my .02

Jen

Texas rose, can you tell me where you get your hollow plastic ones from? Al
so, what do you use to cut it?

To answer some questions above:

NO, you can NOT use regular drinking straws. Some people have found success using the bubble tea straws, which are much larger diameter and made of a much thicker plastic.

The plastic dowels can be found at any cake supply store or any store that sells Wilton products. Also available online at GSA and www.countrykitchensa.com. Just use any serrated knife to cut.

SPS (single-plate system) is pretty near fool-proof. No cutting of dowels involved. Available at GSA.

I HIGHLY recommend using SPS (many thanks to Leahs) especially if you are transporting your cakes over any distance.
Happy to send you the instructions if you send your email address to me.

You can wipe the dowels down with a weak bleach water solution (like a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of hot water). Immediately some will respond to this post shrieking that you can't use bleach because it will be in food (happen every time I say this), but YES you can. It's a very commonly used sanitizing agent in almost every restaurant kitchen. But I stress a WEAK solution... it shouldn't smell like the community pool in July.

YES, you CAN use regular drinking straws, and they are especially great for smaller cakes. I have been using them for years.

Ditto PP, I use plain ol' drinking straws for cakes up to 4 tiers high. They taught me that in school and it has been working for me for 6 years.

Toba Garrett says she uses lollipop sticks. Anyone have an good/bad experience with those?

I just did a two-tiered cake using skewers, (like for making shishkabobs) DISASTER!!! The cake fell apart! Seeing as they are about the size of a lollipop stick, I wouldn't recommend either. I had 4 in the first layer, and then one down through both layers. The cake was an 8" and 6" layer, and for some reason I found the skewers and decided to try them. OMG, never again! The cake also had several cute pumpkins made of fondant on top, I don't know if they were too heavy and pulled the cake over?? You can see the cake (before disaster) in my pictures.

Skewers?? With pointy ends?

If there is one thing you should NEVER skimp on, it's the support system in your cakes. Use STURDY supports.... always....always.....

Jen